Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, I posted a few weeks ago about considering getting a Uro. Well it's done, my wife got it for my birthday. He's a yellow Nigerian Uro and his name is Josephine.

That said, let me explain what's going on here on the first night. It's a 40gal tank, 36" long; I was advised that to have two sides to the tank - one where he sleeps and one where he basks in heat. The man who gave me my care sheet told me the following:

1. Put the day lamp on a stand with varying height - the hot spot should be 120F-130F and the ambient day temp should be 100F-110F. I'm using a 160W bulb for this.
2. Put the night lamp directly on the frame that covers the tank - with a red bulb 100W, night temp from 75F to 80F.

OK, there is a piece of cork bark that rises to the day lamp to give Josephine the opportunity to get as close to the lamp as possible. There's a thermometer close to the "cave" to measure cave temp and one close to the day lamp to measure day temp.

The night thermometer measured about 90F so I moved the night lamp closer to the center, and the night temp has dropped to 80. The day lamp seemed to not get much higher than 85, so hopefully moving the night lamp to the other side will help. What happens if I find out tomorrow that it's only 90F-95F on the day side?

Hey just some reassurance that this is typical would be good.

This is exciting. I love feeding mega worms. If I only punch air holes in the top of the container, I suppose I shouldn't put another container on top of it, huh?

Thanks, Rob

First I'd like to say congrats on your new uro

As far as the temps, I highly recommend deer fern farms as the place to get the best care sheets. It is quite detailed.

The heat should be as follows: You only need a basking lamp for the daytime and the heat should be approx 100 ambiant, 120 tops for basking area, and 80-85 on the cool end. These are about the best temps. You also need a UVB lamp to go across. This is VITAL for their health!!!!! This daylamp you are referring to, is it an actual basking lamp?? or just one of those colored type bulbs? You should have an actual basking lamp. At night, there is no need for any heat source to be on as long as you don't drop your temps in the house to any extreme amounts. It can drop to 70 at night and thats fine.

What kind of diet are you feeding him? The worms are a great treat, but not what he should be eating on a daily basis. He must have a variety of veggie greens such as kale, collard, escarole, carrots, some peas, napa cabbage, to name a few. These also are VERY important for his health!

I hope this gives you a better idea of how his setup should be. DO please check out the deer fern farms page for much more details
Good luck!
renee

Thanks for your help.

HEAT

The temperature range you gave is very close to what we were told - 100-110 ambient, 120-130 on the hot spot, 75-80 at night.

The *problem* is that today, (which is only day 1, mind you) we've had trouble getting the heat up. We had a 160W UV bulb but replaced it with a 275W UV T-Rex bulb AND we wrapped blankets and cardboard on 50-60% of the tank and still on the hot spot we're approximating 110 on the hot spot, 95 ambient. But is that good enough?

The good news is that after we took care of most of the heat, he seemed to eat a little. Whew.

DIET

Our primary diet for him is similar to what you mentioned. You can read it at the bottom of this posting, or ignore it entirely, but it was easy enough to type.

DEER FERN

I've already read the Deer Fern pages, but will do so again as that was like three weeks ago, when Josephine was a twinkle in our eyes.

THANK YOU! -Rob

Diet: Primarily red leaf romaine, escarole, chicory, collard greens, mustard greens, dandelion, with frozen veggies, beans, occasonal cantelope, pear, and powdered vitamins and calcium supplements ... AND dragon pellets soaked in apple juice and wax and megas. We were told for the first couple of weeks to let him eat all the worms he wants as a way to get him happy in the new home.

For your night temps, I would aim more for the 65-70 degree range rather than 75-80, though that might be fine. They are desert creatures and need the cool rest time to revitalize. If they are kept too warm all the time, they will be physically stressed and more susceptible to disease and parasites.

What do you have under the basking light? You can try different types of stone (slate is good) to see if one keeps the heat better. You can also raise up your basking spot to get it closer to the lamp (or lower the lamp down) to increase the heat. I had to get a higher basking platform for mine (115-120 degrees). Just be sure they won't be crushed under anything if they dig around under it.

Some worms and bugs are ok, but as many as they want is probably too many. A few a week will likely keep them just as happy as a few a day. You might also consider losing the red leaf lettuce (if that's what you said you were feeding). The rest of the diet sounds great, but red leaf is nearly as useless as iceberg lettuce for nutritional value. The mustards and collards, etc, are much better foods for the same amount of stomach space.

Sounds like your new guy is well on the way to a happy home!
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Torey
1.1 Uromastyx Geyri (Joe and Arthur)
0.1 Anolis Carolinensis (Leeloo)
1.0 Betta Splendens (Mr. Miagi)
1.1 Felis Domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

Thanks Tony,

We have a piece of cork bark that is elevated to the lamp already. Let's see what happens today, eh? Thanks!